PSY 3102 second midterm notes chapter 6 questions with answers

Social exchange theory - Attempts to explain all types of relationships, from ones with your friends and parents to ones with romantic partner - Argues that relationships are based on exchange of resources, with added costs and benefits to each relationship Equity theory - Homans (1961) wrote: The open secret of human exchange is to give the other man behavior that is more valuable to him than it is costly to you and to get from him behavior that is more valuable to you than it is costly to him Van Yperen and Buunk 1990 - 736 participants (437 females) tested over 2 time periods for satisfaction in relationship (1 year apart) Sprecher 2001 - Studied 101 romantic couples over 5 years - Men and women satisfaction and commitment were assessed Thibaut & Kelley model - Propose that people use a Comparison Level (CL): = summarizes what people expect to get or deserve from a relationship - Think of it as a threshold for satisfaction: if what you receive from relationship exceeds your CL, you are satisfied; if it does not, you are dissatisfied - NB: quantity and also quality of what you receive from relationship are important Types of relationships - Level 1: Attractive Stability - Level 2: Attractive Instability - Level 3: Unattractive Stability - Level 4: Unattractive Instability - Support for Level 2 and Level 4 leading to relationship's end Commitment - Being in a relationship -> reduces attractiveness of alternatives Investment model - Level of investment in relationship influences attraction and dependence Commitment depends on what? - Tangible events - Intangible events - Planned investments Commitment (Le & Agnew 2003) - Meta-analysis of 52 studies, testing Investment Model Communal relationships - Can be differentiated from exchange relationships - In communal relationships there is no expectations of return of favours Lemay & Clark 2008 - Evidence indicates that holding a communal orientation facilitates creation of interdependence, which further promotes formation of close relationships - Study found that partners with communal orientation were more likely to engage in relationship-promoting behaviours Bartz & Lyndon 2006 Individual's attachment style - Securely attached: prefer communal situations - Anxiously attached: also prefer communal situations, but are less comfortable in them - Avoidantly attached: disliked those who followed communal norms Clark & Mills 1979 - Methods: participants (single hetero males), completed words - Participants sent a letter to the woman, who sent back either a letter + thank you or just a thank you - Next stage: participants found out that woman was either married and new to town or single and new to town - Confederate: either 'married and new to town' or 'single and new to town' Add or remove terms You can also click the terms or definitions to blur or reveal them Review